HS Basketball: Gopaul's 24pts Leads Cascade Christian in Instant Classic

1/17/2025

(Puyallup, WA) Friday night’s highly anticipated matchup between the Bellevue Christian Vikings and the Cascade Christian Cougars lived up to the hype. After the two teams exchanged leads throughout the night, in the end, Cascade Christian thanks to Josiah Gopaul’s 24 point performance came away with an exciting 73-69 win. The win improves the Cougars’ record to 9-3 overall, while the visiting Vikings record fell to 9-4.

The game was a rematch of last season’s District 3 semifinal won by Bellevue Christian 52-48. The Vikings went on to state. While the Cougars were upset by Life Christian in the state qualifier to bring their season to a sudden end.

The game began with Bellevue Christian feeling right at home inside Cascade Christian’s gym. The Vikings’ Drake Penberthy made his impact early. The Viking guard’s quartet of three’s paced the sophomore’s 14 points in the opening quarter. Bellevue Christian led at the end of the first, 19-10.

Period number two saw the quick strike offense for Cascade Christian go to work. Andrew Howells started to hit from 3 point territory while Josiah Gopaul began to dominate on the offensive glass for the Cougars. The Cougars went on to outscore Bellevue Christian in the 2nd quarter, 22-7. Cascade Christian led at the half 32-26. Brandy Tonkin scored six of the Vikings’ seven points in the second stanza.

The second half began with Josiah Gopaul taking over the game for Cascade Christian. The senior stretched the Cougars’ lead to as large as twelve with Gopaul scoring nine points in the third stanza. Bellevue Christian stayed in striking range. Conner Banach scored all ten of his points in the third to rally BCS. Cascade Christian’s second half lead was trimmed from twelve to three leading 52-49 after three quarters.

With eight minutes left in what was an already thrilling game, the fun was just getting started. Bellevue Christian’s Drake Penberthy and Cascade Christian’s Josiah Gopaul put on an exhibit of scoring in the paint. Bellevue Christian led in the final minutes 68-65. Cascade Christian relied on Josiah Gopaul to engineer the offense. The Cougar senior, Gopaul found an open Kai Kilborn alone in the right pocket. The first year Cougar, Kilborn sank the three to tie the game at 68 with 1:26 left. The final seconds turned into a battle at the free throw line. Josiah Gopaul capped off a 24 point night by putting Cascade Christian in front 70-68 with 48 seconds left. Both teams traded free throws to give Bellevue Christian a chance to tie or take the lead. A defensive rebound by senior forward Grant Johnson put Cascade Christian in position for the win.

Marcus McNicol sealed the game for Cascade Christian by sinking a pair of free throws to send Cascade Christian into the win column. The Cougars won the game 73-69 thanks to 24 points from Elisportsnetwork.com MVP Josiah Gopaul. Andrew Howells chipped in with 16 points for the Cougars. Bellevue Christian witnessed Drake Penberthy score a game high 25 points in the loss. Brandy Tonkin also chipped in with 15 points for the Vikings. With the win, the Cougars embark into Nisqually league play Tuesday night on the road against Life Christian Academy at 7pm, while Bellevue Christian opens league play in Klahowya on Friday night at 6pm.

Here is the scoring summary from the game.

Bellevue Christian:

Drake Penberthy 25, Brandy Tonkin 15, Brock Huber 11, Conner Banach 11, Luke Evenson 9

Cascade Christian:

Josiah Gopaul 24, Andrew Howells 16, Kai Kilborn 9, Grant Johnson 7, Josiah Lewis 7, Cole Theiste 4, Marcus McNicol 2

To catch the full game replay Click Here (Subscription Required).

Here is our Interviews with Game MVP Josiah Gopaul and Cascade Christian Head Coach Cody Shackett with highlight of the game to follow.

ESN Interviews Game MVP Josiah Gopaul